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Image of illustrated peopleFamily Ambassadors

Specialised Children’s Mental Health Services
 

Family Ambassadors have personal experience as a parent/carer or sibling of a child or young person under 25 who has needed inpatient mental health care. This may be in a CAMHS Tier 4 service, or as a young adult in adult services.

  • Family Ambassadors work in a small, supported team providing a service to parents/carers of children under Tier 4 (usually inpatient) CAMHS services
  • The roles are paid at Band 4
  • The roles are flexible and can usually be home-based and part-time

What will the Local Family Ambassadors do?

Family Ambassadors support parents and carers from referral to the CAMHS Tier 4 service, until discharge back to the community teams.  

They:

  • Provide emotional and practical support before and during transition to a Tier 4 service.
  • Support parents/carers to enable co-production of the care plan, team formulation process and positive behaviour support planning. 
  • Explain the purposes of different meetings.
  • Explain legal processes that families may come across.
  • Help parents/carers to understand the roles of the multidisciplinary team.
  • Help with application for and the processes surrounding education, health and care (EHC) assessments.
  • Support Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independent Payments (PIP), and travel claims. 
  • Provide pre-meeting support and preparation.
  • Provide post meeting support and information.
  • Support during transition if higher levels of support in a different unit are needed for their child or the young person they care for. 
  • Help with early identification of concerns: support to resolve these and build confidence in their ability to work alongside the clinical team as a partner in care. 
  • Help with practical issues to ensure routine medical/dental care continues.
  • Provide general emotional support throughout the admission process to enable the processing of events that may cause distress. 
  • Provide written information about a variety of topics as needed. 
  • Help with communication with NHS / social care / local authority / education / onward providers.

 

More information about this role can be found here: Family Ambassadors - elearning for healthcare (e-lfh.org.uk) and here.

Regional Teams support the Family Ambassadors within their geographical areas.  To find out more about the roles close to you, please see below:

For South West / South East including:  Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Bristol, Bath, Swindon and Wilshire, Somerset, Devon Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
Contact Lara Barnish, Regional Family Ambassador: lara.barnish@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk

For the East of England including: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Norfolk and Waveney, Suffolk and North East Essex, Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes, Hertfordshire and West Essex and Mid and South Essex
Contact Louise Garner, Regional Family Ambassador: Louise.Garner@cpft.nhs.uk

For the North East of England and Yorkshire including: Cumbria and the North East, West Yorkshire and Harrogate, Humber, Coast and Vale, South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw.
Contact Dr. Omotewa Kuforiji, Regional Family Ambassador: Omotewa.Kuforiji1@nhs.net

For all general enquiries, including other locations not currently listed, please contact: lara.barnish@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk

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